BIO127 LEC Exam 1 (Philippine Ethnobotany and Ethics)

Ethics

Guide used to make decisions and actions

1. Fairness

2. Honesty

3. Trust

4. Integrity

5. Responsible

6. Credibility

Six ethical principles in ethnobotany

Fairness

Ethical principle regarding treating others justly

Honesty

Ethical principle regarding presenting information truthfully

Trust

Ethical principle regarding acting in ways that builds credibility

Integrity

Ethical principle regarding consistently adhering to moral principles

Responsible

Ethical principle regarding accountability in the conduct of research

Credibility

Ethical principle regarding capacity for something to be believed

Indigenous people community (IPC)

Key to ethnobotanical research since they uphold traditional knowledge of medicinal plants, cultural practices, and ecological management as they live in that specific area.

Vulnerable to exploitation

Risk towards IPC since we seek to use their knowledge for personal or commercial gain

Cultural appropriation or loss of heritage

The major result without proper consent to IPC

Biopiracy

Risk towards IPC when companies patent plants or traditional medicinal practices without recognition or compensation of IPC

Poaching or overharvesting

Risk towards IPC concerning unsustainable harvesting practices that harms cultural tradition and biodiversity

Disrespect for cultural practices

Risk concerning IPC when ignoring or failing to respect indigenous rituals or customs where it can lead to social and ethical issues

1. Vulnerable to exploitation

2. Biopiracy

3. Poaching or overharvesting

4. Disrespect for cultural practices

Four risks in involvement of IPC

1. Have you received permission from participants, institutions, and sponsors?

2. Have you considered and included local needs and challenges the community is facing in your ethnobotanical research?

3. Who are the beneficiaries and how is the community going to be compensated?

4. How are results from the research going to be disseminated?

5. Is the input of the local community being acknowledged and protected during dissemination?

Five critical questions in conducting ethnobotanical research

National Commission on Indigenous People

Institution responsible for communicating and overseeing studies involving indigenous people and communities

Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Institution responsible for obtaining wildlife Gratuitous Permits (GP) required for non-commercial, scientific, or educational biological samples.

Gratuitous Permits (GP)

Permit required for non-commercial, scientific, or educational biological samples. It allows the collection, transport, or use of natural resources without charging commercial fees.

RA 9147 (Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001)

RA concerned with the collection and use of wildlife.

Local Transport Permits

Permits only necessary when moving samples or byproducts within the country

Nagoya Protocol (2014)

Legally-binding int’l agreement adopted in 2014 that aims to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (1992)

International treaty from 1992 aimed at conserving biodiversity, promoting its sustainable use, and ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from genetic resources.

International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE) Code of Ethics

Comprehensive Code of Ethics which can be used as a guideline for ethnobotanical fieldwork and data collection protocols.

Promote conservation of biological diversity, recognizing IP and local communities as stewards of the environment.

Primary goal of ISE Code of Ethics

• Optimize the positive outcomes and reduce as much as possible the adverse effects of ethnobotanical research

• Provide a set of principles and practices to govern the conduct of all members of ISE (involved in research in all its forms)

Objectives of ISE Code of Ethics

1. Recognition of Indigenous Rights

2. Negotiation and Consultation

3. Community participation

4. Equitable Sharing of Benefits

5. Cultural Sensitivity

6. Protection of Traditional Knowledge

Summarized Principles of ISE

International Society of Ethnobiology

ISE stands for?

1. Preamble

2. Purpose

3. 17 Principles

4. 12 Practical Guidelines

5. Glossary of terms

Five components of ISE Code of Ethics

1. Recognition of Indigenous rights

2. Negotiation and Consultation

3. Community participation

4. Equitable Sharing of Benefits

5. Cultural Sensitivity

6. Protection of Traditional Knowledge

Six summarized principles of ISE Code of Ethics

Recognition of Indigenous Rights

Principle concerning need to acknowledge indigenous prior rights and responsibilities.

Prior Informed Consent (PIC)

A specific right granted to IP involving the following:

• Research goals, methods, and impacts must be discussed to both parties.

• Voluntary permission is necessary, letting them have the right to either participate or withdraw.

• Most importantly, clear communication, recognition, and compensation is required.

Traditional knowledge

What is recognized as IPC’s intellectual property?

Negotiation and Consultation

Principle concerning the need for agreement and mutual understanding with local communities, which is essential for ethical, respectful, and meaningful research.

• Open and transparent dialogues allow researchers to identify, adapt, and respect the community's concerns.

• Must be continuous and not a one time meeting.

Community participation

Principle that allows the community to feel empowered with active involvement

Reciprocity learning

Interactive type of learning where researchers learn from locals (plant morphology, seasonal growth patterns, sustainable harvesting methods), and likewise (building skills in environmental protection and resource management)

Equitable Sharing of Benefits

Principle concerning reciprocity, mutual benefit, and equitable sharing in ways that are culturally appropriate and consistent with the wishes of the community involved, especially if patented, and support community projects (ex: training, etc.)

Cultural Sensitivity

Principle concerning respect towards tradition, beliefs, norms of communities. This includes communicating clearly and use ethical, considerate, and easy to understand methods, such as usage in the local language wherever possible.

Protection of Traditional Knowledge

Principle concerning being educated with the local context of the community prior to research.

• This requires complying with local governance systems, cultural laws, social customs and etiquette.

• Safeguarding cultural, ecological, and scientific knowledge because it is being passed on from generation to generation

• Respect boundaries and never publish sensitive information without their explicit consent.

• Exclusion of protected ancestral domain areas

• Mining and environmental destruction

• Leonardo Co’s Story

Notable research challenges in Philippine ethnobotany (mainly concerning IPCs)

• Verbal transfer of generational knowledge

  • Loss of interest by younger generations

• Environmental threats (mining, deforestation, urban expansion)

• Cultural shift and Western influence

• Government policies leaning towards constant modernization

Factors contributing to loss of traditional knowledge

Voucher Specimen

Pressed and dried herbarium specimen with detailed collection data; and serves as a record of an individual plant in time and space

1. Collector’s name

2. Number

3. Date of collection

4. Provisional name, if any, or vernacular name

5. Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates and altitude reading

6. Detailed description of the plant - life form, plant features that disappears with pressing (flower color, underground parts, aroma, leaf arrangement and shape)

7. Photo of the plant if possible

8. Seeds and fruits to be preserved as spirit material (specimens preserved in liquid)

Components of an herbarium specimen

• Permanent record documenting the plant species

• Lack of voucher specimen leads to

  • questioning of the true identity of plant species recorded in a research project

  • inability to reproduce critical results

  • association of chemical data with the wrong genus and species

  • complete rejection of the published research results

• Correction of misidentified specimens

• Retain scientific value of research

• Provide a method to update species identifications as new plant classifications are accepted

Importance of voucher specimens